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Esteemed Presenters and Abstracts

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Understanding the Dialogue in Open Dialogue: Recognition and the Struggle to be Heard

Ross Ellenhorn, MSW, PhD

Founder & CEO at Ellenhorn

This dialogue will focus on learning Open Dialogue while taking such learning deeper by exploring what it truly means to be in dialogue. It will examine the kinds of truths that emerge from dialogue, the experiences it creates, its association with the divine, and its close connection to play. Considering psychosis as an acute experience of estrangement—whether internal or caused by stigma—this presentation will explore how such estrangement reflects a disconnection from dialogue and seek new forms of dialogue that are especially sensitive to psychotic experience.

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Dr. Ross Ellenhorn is trained as a sociologist, psychotherapist, and social worker. Over the last two decades, he has helped individuals experiencing psychiatric symptoms find the psychological and social means to remain outside institutional settings. He created the first fully-operating intensive hospital diversion program in Massachusetts, later establishing and leading one of the state’s first Programs for Assertive Community Treatment teams. Dr. Ellenhorn’s book on psychiatric hospital recidivism and diversion techniques was published by Springer Publishing in 2007. A graduate of UCLA’s School of Social Welfare and the first person to earn a joint Ph.D. from the Florence Heller School for Social Welfare Policy and the Department of Sociology at Brandeis University, Dr. Ellenhorn is also trained in Open Dialogue, a method with documented success in minimizing the need for psychotropic medications.

A Generative Unease: Thinking Psychosis with Queer Theories

Social Worker and Psychotherapist at Gould Farm

Grounded in Saketopoulou’s (2022, 2023) psychoanalytic summons to reconsider our relationship to trauma in theory and practice, Brett will consider generative possibilities of thinking psychosis with critical discourses in queer and crip theory. By allowing our habituated notions to be unsettled by attention to the margins and inviting clinicians to “inhabit unease” (Amin 2017), this presentation explores the benefit of living into several tensions: between the self-making and destructive potentials of psychotic experience, between the idealization of what marginal experience offers and the agony of abjection from within and without, between the world as it is and the world as it could be.

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Brett Thatcher (he/him), LICSW, is a clinician at Gould Farm and a psychotherapist in private practice. He has Masters degrees in theological studies and social work from Boston College and has completed postgraduate training in intersubjective psychotherapy and mentalization-based treatment. In his free time he indulges his bibliophilia, searches for his next favorite recipe, and dreams of the beach.

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“Crazy” Wisdom:  Working with Clinical Challenges through the Lens of Buddhist Psychology

Clinical Director at Windhorse Integrative Mental Health

​As “helping” professionals, we can find ourselves unknowingly falling into heuristic traps: patterns of quick assumptions or emotional responses that undermine our ability to effectively support those we serve. The pressure—both internal and external —to help, cure, and maintain professionalism can often increase suffering and risk, both for our clients and ourselves. Where do we turn to when we are feeling stuck?  How do we find ground when our theories, diagnoses, and evidence-based techniques fall short?  What do we do when we can’t seem to help, cure, or hide behind our professionalism?  This presentation will discuss these common dilemmas from the perspective of contemplative Buddhist psychology and practice. It will explore how “crazy wisdom” —a way of embracing uncertainty and navigating the challenges of our work—may offer a path through the confusion of conventional approaches, supporting both personal growth and more effective practice.

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Phoebe (she/her) has served as Clinical Director of Windhorse IMH in Northampton, MA since 2012.  She’s held many roles over the course of her 20 years at Windhorse, having begun as the first graduate student intern in 2001. Within the global Windhorse community, Phoebe is among only a handful of people who have been authorized to teach Windhorse’s unique 9-month contemplative psychotherapy training.  In 2013, she completed the first 2-year training in Open Dialogue and Dialogical Practices offered in the US. She went on to complete a third year of training to become a trainer of Dialogical Practices in 2020. Phoebe received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Kenyon College and a master's in dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling Psychology from Antioch New England Graduate School. Committed to compassionate awareness and skillful action, Phoebe’s work is informed by her background in philosophy, her years of training in body disciplines, and her deep interest in the healing potential of genuine dialogue.

Shame and Stigma in the Psychotherapy for Psychosis

Staff Psychologist and Psychoanalyst at The Austen Riggs Center

Shame is a powerful emotion that often prevents people from seeking help or acknowledging their problems. In this presentation, shame will be discussed in the context of psychosis and how it often emerges when people encounter stigma or social judgment, experience confusion and loss of control over their mind, or feel that their sense of self was harmed or negatively affected by their psychotic experiences. Special attention will also be given to the relationship between paranoia and shame and the distinction between internal and external shame. The presenter will describe the importance of shame-sensitive care and how to address the impact of shame on the psychotherapeutic process and how to build the metacognitive capacity to withstand shame and talk about painful and disorganizing experiences.

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Jeremy M. Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP, is the director of psychological testing, associate director of admissions, and a staff psychologist at the Austen Riggs Center. His research interest includes the psychological assessment of personality disorders and the psychotherapeutic treatment of psychosis through an emphasis on metacognition and mentalization.

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Relationships Between Early Life Trauma and Psychosis in Adolescents and Young Adults

Michael Garrett, MD

Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center

This presentation will review research from the past several decades revealing a clear association between trauma and psychosis, challenging the conceptualization of psychosis as a genetically determined brain disease. The talk will offer an expanded definition of trauma that encompasses not only events recorded in standardized trauma scales but also cumulative trauma, strain trauma, trauma resulting from the symbolic meaning of life events, and trauma arising from extraordinary misfortune. It will argue that what has traditionally been diagnosed as “schizophrenia” is better understood as a phenotypic expression of trauma-related complex PTSD. Just as memories of trauma emerge in PTSD flashbacks, psychotic symptoms can be seen as disguised manifestations of trauma.​

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Michael Garrett, MD is currently Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.  He is also on the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Association of New York (PANY) affiliated with NYU Medical Center in New York City.  He received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed his residency training in Psychiatry at Bronx Municipal Hospital Center.  He currently teaches and supervises clinicians doing psychotherapy for psychosis and is a consultant to several first-episode for psychosis teams in the United States and elsewhere.  He has a particular interest in the integration of cognitive behavioral and psychodynamic treatment in the psychotherapy of psychosis, as detailed in a Chapter in Kaplan & Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry 11th Ed titled Individual Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis, and in his recent book, Garrett, M. (2019) Psychotherapy for Psychosis: Integrating Cognitive Behavioral and Psychodynamic Treatments. Guilford Press/New York. 

Open Dialogue Workshop

Director of Family Services at Ellenhorn

PACT Clinician

Open Dialogue is a transformative therapeutic approach that emphasizes collaboration, understanding, and shared meaning-making. Rooted in dialogic principles, this approach reimagines care by involving the person at the center of concern and their network, fostering authentic communication and mutual respect.

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This introductory, fidelity-based workshop offers a deep dive into the core principles and practices of Dialogic Practice, equipping participants with the skills to:

  • Understand and apply the twelve foundational elements of Dialogic Practice.

  • Shift from a clinical gaze to a more reflective, inclusive perspective.

  • Master the art of reflections to inspire new ideas and broaden perspectives.

  • Bring voice and clarity to present experiences rather than focusing solely on problems.

  • Use narrative and circular questioning techniques to encourage meaningful dialogue.

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Whether you're new to Open Dialogue or seeking to refine your skills, this workshop offers a dynamic and interactive opportunity to explore a groundbreaking approach to care.

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